Subtle Changes
by Shiori Mayonaka no Yume
Summary: Tired of being compared to her incarnation, Kagome gives Inuyasha a taste of his own medicine.


Another work in progress. Enjoy!

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Kagome finally had enough.

The now 17 year old time traveling miko was tired of Inuyasha's stubborn refusal to learn the differences between Kikyo and herself. After two years of traveling in the Feudal Era, Kagome learned that being jealous of Kikyo was causing harm only to herself.

What good would it do for her to hate her incarnation?

Why was she staying up late waiting for Inuyasha to come back to camp every night he snuck off to be with her?

It's not like she wasn't stressed enough just being a high school student on top of Naraku constantly attacking at random then disappearing, the occasional suitor, the frequent arguments and the destruction of several of her uniforms. Kagome no longer had time to focus on a nonexistent relationship triangle.

Sango and Miroku noticed the change in their friend while Shippo remained indifferent. The close to the end of their hunt got the stronger Kagome's powers got.

Now, the Inu-gang were settling down for the night after a terrible battle with some venomous snake demons. Shippo was critically injured from the attack and after killing the demons, they set camp early so Kagome could start treating Shippo.

Pulling out a pair of pjs for the night and gathering her bathing supplies Inuyasha decided that now would be a good time to start bothering her.

"You bathe way too much for a human." He said while eating his ramen. Kagome rolled her eyes and didn't even answer. After a while, the repetitive questions got annoying too. This action, however, did not shut him up.

"You spend more time bathing than trying to find the last jewel shards, bad enough that you don't even do things right when you needs to. Kikyo would never side track from her duties as often as you do."

Sango and Miroku looked on with baited breath and Kilala mewed knowing that things were going to go downhill from here.

"You know what Inuyasha? Maybe you are right." Not only were Sango and Miroku shocked but so was Inuyasha.

"I am?" he asked, slightly confused.

Kagome nodded, grabbing her back pack and arrows. "Yes. Today was all my fault. If I were like Kikyo maybe things would not have turned out the way they did today because somehow everything is always my fault. I mean, it must be _my_ fault why we ended up going around in circles because I thought I smelled Naraku. _I_ must have been the one that fought and argued with Kouga for an hour making him forget the information he was trying to give us. And let's not forget that _I_ somehow manages to get demon guts and blood all over everyone which was also so toxic that poor Shippo was burned and his lungs is suffering damage too from the fumes."

The rant didn't stop there either. Kagome turned to look at Inuyasha as she stood up, shock still evident on his face. "why don't try to be more like Sesshomaru who know how to protect and lead his companion without trying to get them killed all the time and I will be more like Kikyo who is the real reason as to why we were not only going in circles but also the reason why we didn't head back Kaede who is only 10 miles back." And with that said Kagome began to head to the springs to wash up.

She stopped to ask Sango if she wanted to come but she declined saying she wanted to check her weapons first. Inuyasha, finally out of hi stupor, jumped into the nearest tree to scout for danger. Sango looked at Miroku and the monk simply shrugged.

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The next day Kagome woke up early to check on Shippo who was wheezing slightly from the damage the blood fumes caused to his lungs. Kagome had been feeding him some of her reiki to speed up his healing process. Inuyasha hopped down from his perch and walked over to her.

"How is he?" Kagome looked up at him and gave him a small smile. "His breathing is still labored and the burns are going to leave a scar but he should be fine. Just needs lots of sleep thought."

Sango and Miroku woke up next and went to find wood so Kagome could cook. When they returned, Sango walked over to Kagome and greeted her. "Good morning, Kagome-chan."

"Sango-chan. Good morning. Hey do you mind if Shippo could ride Kilala today?" Sango nodded and Kagome beamed at the older girl.

After breakfast, just as they were preparing to leave, they were attacked by crow demons.

"What the hell!" Inuyasha yelled slicing through a couple of birds. Kagome shook her head as she watched him wildly swing his fathers' fang around before notching an arrow and shooting just as Inuyasha ducked. The arrow pierced one bird but purified three within the vicinity. After feeling reiki, the rest of the bird flew off.

"What the hell wench? You could have killed me!" Inuyasha yelled. "You barely managed that shot Kikyo would never have been this reckless." Kagome was picking up her arrows as he was insulting her yet again. Grinning and keeping her back to him Kagome began her retort.

"You are right again. However, Sesshomaru has an acid whip which would have easily killed all those crows and perfect for fighting in a small area compared to you wildly swinging your sword like a child with a toy. Did you not realize that we were being attacked because they smell Shippo's burnt flesh? Plus with Sesshomaru's superior hearing and sense of smell he would have detected the treat ahead of time."

Inuyasha glared at the miko who still wasn't facing him. "What is with the sudden interest in my bastard of a brother?"

"Half-brother." Kagome and another voice said at the same time. Turning, Kagome could see Sesshomaru and his small group standing to the side. Instantly Rin ran over to Kagome and Sango. "Kagome-nee, Sango-nee! Sesshomaru-sama killed a demon that had two shards so we tracked you down to give them to you." Kagome turned and bowed to the lord. "Thank you, Sesshomaru-sama." Sesshomaru nodded to the miko before turning away.

"Rin."

"Coming my lord!" and after hugging the two girls goodbye and petting Shippo and Kilala she ran off to join Sesshomaru.

"Oi, wench. Since when did you start respecting him?"

"Around the time you forgot my name." she said still watching them walking away. 'I wish I could play with his hair so bad' Kagome thought wistfully.

"Their long gone wench."

"And oh look how majestic and quiet he moves to. You should learn something from him."

And finally Miroku could hold it no more and began to laugh.

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This story will have relatively short chapter but that means faster updates :D


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